Santa's Helper- Big Girl Room

A client of mine asked me a few months back if I could help her and Santa out with a little project. She wanted to gift her daughter a new big girl room for Christmas. So fun! So I went over, took measurements and pictures, talked with my client about what she wanted, and got to work. 

Here's where the room started- it was basically a blank slate. She hadn't done anything in here since moving in recently. Blank slates are of course the easiest to design. You can do anything! This client was so trusting of me too so it was a breeze. Love that! 

My client wanted a room that felt light and airy, but her daughter loves unicorns, glam, gold, glitter, turquoise, and black & white. Creating a space for a child that they can grow with is KEY. I never want to design a kid space that feels kidish. Have fun and whimsical elements, sure, but not be overall themey or childish. That's not the way I roll. The other specific requests my client had were a homework area, a chandelier, and nothing too busy.  When I design for others, I always say let your walls breath. You need some empty spaces so your eyes have a spot to rest in a room. If you hang something everywhere, no one thing is going to shine, everything gets lost. So to me sometimes, less is more. Especially when you are after light and airy.

So, after a little brainstorming here's the design I came up with.  I wanted to paint the walls white so that everything we brought into the room would be the stars rather than the paint color. To add to the light and airy look, I suggested painting the ceiling a blue/green to suggest a sense of the outdoors. There's something calming about a blue ceiling that mimics the sky.  

A crystal chandelier, gilded mirrors and capiz shell art bring in the bling without being over the top or tacky. 

To add a touch of whimsy, a unicorn head is displayed on a small wall next to the bed. This is something that can easily be removed when little miss grows out of the unicorn phase. All of the furniture can grow with her as well. 

I suggested moving the bed in front of the windows. The windows look out to the neighboring yard, so it wasn't as if we'd be blocking an important view. To create the feeling of a larger window, we ran a 140" double curtain rod out from the windows, and hung both black out curtains for light control, and patterned sheers for added privacy. 

My client painted the ceiling and room about a month ago, and then my team of elves, Santa, and I got to work on the rest on Christmas-eve-eve. What a fun project this was! 

The little bench I found discount, recovered in Thibaut herringbone velvet 

Target accessories 

Home Depot mirror- demijohns from Tuesday Morning

My client's desk and chair from her childhood, passing down to her daughter.  Large bulletin board for all the things...

unicorn robe, obviously.

the chandelier is vintage from a local consignment shop. still works, shoo! 

capiz shell art, love the way the light bounces around 

Nightstands are also vintage.. which I had my client purchase from another client. LOL.  

updated bling knobs

Unicorn and mirror from Hobby Lobby 

The reveal on Christmas morning was PRICELESS. 

Thank you to my clients for trusting me from the start with this design and letting me execute it. I said paint that ceiling blue, and cover up the windows, and they didn't bat an eye. THE BEST CLIENTS!! 

Anyone using a designer, this is the best advice I can give you (and I think all designers would agree with me). TRUST THEM!! You hired them for a reason. Trust that they can deliver! And not to mention, you hired them for their FIRST choice, not their third or fourth. That's where an initial design starts to fall away. Don't let yourself down that slippery slope. :)  

OK- off to tackle the Christmas decor take down. Ooooph. Will I get it all organized this year? HA. Jury is still out! 

~Ashley 

Girls' Bedroom

A little glimpse at my kiddos' room today. They still share a room and still love to do so, we'll see what the future will hold. For now they like the each other's company. My five year old still insists the three year old walk her to the bathroom in the  middle of the night. Hilarious.

Back in May the girls got queen beds! MC has been out of the crib for some time, but started outgrowing her toddler bed (falling off the sides, ha). The upholstered headboards are by CR LAINE and are upholstered in a performance fabric.

I've updated the bedskirts since taking these pictures, still need to iron those and photograph. They are a coral toile from Ballard Designs. TBC..

I had Thibaut paper installed on the back wall and LOVE IT. The girls love it, too. They each have a "favorite bird" haha. Cuties. This wallpaper can be wiped down if needed. We've had the DO NOT COLOR ON THE WALL OR YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR LIFE talk a lot. 

Happy Friday (the 13th) friends!

Girls' Room

It's almost that time- goodbye to the crib foreverrrrrrrrrr. (My mom is somewhere reading this and crying). I am taking my time moving Mae Caroline over to a bed. I'm just not QUITE ready. Although I'm SO ready to be done with diapers. Oooh. There are some baby things I just don't want to hang onto.

We switched Evans over at 20 months with no problems or drama. She loved her twin bed from day one. I just have a feeling that MC will be different, because she's been different about everything it seems :) I can see her getting up a thousand times, trying to get into bed with Evans, getting up to play with her toys, etc. etc. etc. But, I know if I want to potty train her, that is going to come with her being able to get out of bed on her own when she's gotta go.

All of that, and she's almost 2.5. I mean. It's time, right? Although I know lots of people who kept cribs to 4 and 5 years old. My kids are tall though, so that can't happen here. Plus, I get too excited and ready for these big milestones to occur.

So.

Maybe in the next 6 months I'll pull it together? HA!

In any event, I can't wait to do double twins in the room! I've always wanted to do this. The girls have shared a room since we lived in Savannah. They started sharing last April I think, I'd have to go back and look. But they LOVE it so much. One cannot sleep without the other. It's adorable really.

I already have all the bedding (thanks to a Ballard sale at the Roswell outlet last year, I racked up two sets of twin quilts, euros and sheets).  And of course Evans has her bed. All we'll need to get is another PB Kids Belden bed and maybe a nightstand to go in between the beds.

I'd also love to put something like this wallpaper by Modified Tot in the dormer window areas of their room (which is where the princess dress up area and their play kitchen area are set up)... but I'll never be able to convince the hubs. Unless of course I hung it myself....

Their room is so large and gets a ton of light, so it can take all the color and pattern.

I still want to trim out the curtains (so that they actually hit the floor, ha! do as I say, not as I do clients... :) ) in a pretty coral velvet, but haven't taken time to do it yet.

I ordered this rug from RUGS USA (55% off sale going on right now!). Their room is carpeted, but the carpet is boring to me. I need some color.

I'd also like to make a couple of awning/cornice/valance thingies for above their beds... later. When Mae Mae isn't going to pull them down or try to swing from one.

To be continued!

A Boys' Room

A project update! 

I think I shared this design plan a few weeks ago on the blog. I know I talked about it some on Instagram. This is a shared boys' bedroom! The client wanted a vintage baseball theme. So away we go! 

I started out with this plan to show her. I started out by jotting down different elements that came to mind when thinking about "vintage" and "baseball". Rugged, rustic, texture, antique. 

But, it's also got to function as a boys' room and have plenty of storage. 

So, here goes.

METAL: industrial letters, metal bed

LEATHER: leather benches at the end of the bed serve double purpose as storage and a place to sit and play video games, read books, etc.

COTTON: sheets, also in a pinstripe!

RECLAIMED WOOD: dresser and nightstand

The client has several Cubs pennants that we will have framed and use as art in the room. For the curtains, I wanted something boyish but not too themed (for example, I didn't want an actual baseball print). I found these at West Elm and thought they'd be perfect. They sort of read as a stripe, but it's abstract enough to keep the room feeling modern.

The rustic nightstand and dresser just feel like an old school dugout and baseball stadium to me. You know like League Of Their Own, but for boys.  Can you tell I'm a GIRL mom? :)

And here's the plan in action today! The furniture has all arrived along with the curtains and bedding! 

We've got to get a curtain rod to install the curtains yet, and still need to accessorize and frame the art. 

However, isn't this so cute! My client said her boys slept in here on their new beds for the first time last night and slept THROUGH THE NIGHT. 

HOORAY!

I decided not to do a literal baseball theme. Without the art and accessories that are to come, this could easily be a teen room or even a neutral guest bedroom. That's the key to kid spaces!! 

Be sure to choose items that they can grow with, not grow out of. 

I can't wait to share more when this project is complete!